My Friend
by Dezeron
Summary: The first battle between Naruto and Sasuke, without a doubt, decided how the rest of the story of Naruto would play out. But, what would have happened if Naruto had succeeded in bringing Sasuke back?


"RASENGAN!"

"CHIDORI!"

The two roared as their techniques clashed. The spiraling Rasengan against the lightning-fueled Chidori. The flash of light that followed was blinding. A mass of pure chakra, spraying wildly, with no control or direction. Sasuke couldn't see much beyond Naruto's face, and he guessed that the other ninja couldn't, either. He had to end this fast. In one last attempt to defeat his friend, he punched him squarely in the chest. All at once, the world around the two seemed to condense, leaving room only for the two inside it. Then, the space expanded before the glow receded, leaving the two friends suspended in midair.

Time seemed to slow for Sasuke. He saw Naruto's expression, a pained grimace, halfway between consciousness and unconsciousness, before he vanished in a puff of smoke. It was a shadow clone! The mutated Uchiha's eyes widened in shock and horror. He had used the last of his chakra in that attack. In the same instant that Sasuke realized that, an enormous punch knocked him into the spot where Naruto's clone had stood in the first Hokage's statue. All the remaining energy he had left was gone.

Sasuke Uchiha had lost.

"Have you had enough?!" Naruto shouted as he landed near the Uchiha. Sasuke didn't respond, but Naruto knew he was still awake. He felt the Nine Tails' chakra fade as he moved towards his friend. He crouched down and flipped the Uchiha over on his back with the one arm he still had use of. Sasuke just stared at him. From how how emotionless the Sharingan wielder was, one would think that the Sharingan wielder was indifferent to his defeat. But Naruto knew him better.

After all the time that Naruto had spent with Sasuke, there was no way that he'd miss the vibe coming off of his friend. The leaf ninja could feel the anger and resentment rolling off of his friend. It made Naruto angry that his friend had become like this. That he had become so obsessed with gaining power that he was willing to toss their bond aside, as though it was meaningless. Almost like it had never existed to begin with. Naruto pulled Sasuke up by his collar. His knuckles were white.

"Why, Sasuke? Why do you want to let Orochimaru take you? To steal your body? Don't you get it?! You won't exist anymore! Why...?" His voice was beginning to crack. "W-why would you throw away everyth-thing we've worked so hard to form?! Our bond... does it mean nothing to you?! What about Sakura?! Or Kakashi-sensei?! D-do they m-mean nothing to you? What about-"

"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted, "What do you know about bonds?! You've never had a mother or a father! And you've certainly never had a brother who killed the rest of your family! You could never understand why... How can you understand why I want revenge when you've never lost your own family?!" The Uchiha's voice echoed throughout the valley as he finished, fading away into an uncomfortable silence. Sasuke was right. Naruto didn't understand what is like to lose family. But as for losing friends...

"That's not true..." The Uchiha eyed Naruto with anger, but let him continue. "Back in the land of waves, when we fought Haku together, and you were knocked unconscious, I thought you'd been killed. I was so angry, I wanted to rip him to shreds. Team Seven is my family, and losing you was like losing a brother. And when Gaara threatened to kill Sakura, and I saw how beaten you were, I was so worried about losing you and her for real. So don't think I don't know what it's like to lose family, or to experience the anger of having those bonds threatened." Again, silence filled the valley. Naruto could see Sasuke listening intently, as though examining the worth of something being shown to him. Seeing that Naruto was done, Sasuke spoke again.

"Naruto, you may know what it's like to see a friend die, but you don't what it's like to live with the fact that they're gone." Naruto's gaze dropped, and he sat next to Sasuke. He was deep in thought, trying to imagine living with Sasuke's death in the Land of Waves, or when Sakura almost died in the battle against Gaara. It was something that was completely unfathomable to the orange-garbed genin.

"I guess... you're right." Naruto declared. Sasuke looked to his right, where Naruto sat. He was watching, listening to what else he had to say. After all, it's not often that the knucklehead would admit that he was wrong.

"I can't understand what it's like to live with something like that... but Sasuke... I'm not letting you go to Orochimaru. I won't let him take you away, and steal your body... it's not gonna happen! I won't let it happen... Even if it kills me."

Sasuke felt his resolve wearing down little by little. This argument with Naruto had made him question whether or not what he was trying to do was worth it. He was sure it was. He would go out, and get his vengeance on Itachi, who killed Sasuke's clan, and left him for dead. He would do that no matter the cost. It didn't matter if Orochimaru took over his body, and it didn't matter if he had to kill Naruto or Kakashi if they got in his way... right? That had been the shinobi's resolve when he left the... village, but was that really how he wanted it?

Trying one more time to sever his bond with his friend, Sasuke asked: " Why do you still want to drag me back to the village after I nearly killed you twice? Why would you still try to yourself with me?" The teenager questioned. "Answer me!" He shouted at the quiet ninja. Naruto looked at him, with a soft smile on his face.

"Because... you're my friend." Naruto responded. The answer hit the defunct ninja like the flat of a blade. He couldn't believe that of all the reasons that Naruto would still want to bring him back to the village, that was the one. Sasuke began to think about the path he was taking to kill Itachi. Oh, he still wanted to kill the man responsible for his clan's death, but... was this way worth it? Was severing ties to all the people he knew and cared about... the way to go?

No... he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't follow in his footsteps and kill his friends and what he saw as a family. He would find his own path to achieve power, and kill his brother. He would not become the very thing he sought to destroy! Sasuke looked at his friend, to find that the knucklehead had passed out. The Sharingan wielder smiled to himself. Not his typical, smug smile that he usually wore, nor was it the insane smile that he possessed to scare others. No... this... this was a true, genuine smile, one that he hadn't had worn since... his family had been killed.

Just as Sasuke was about to slip into unconsciousness as well, he heard the sound of feet landing on the ground. He looked up to see a leaf headband... and it was slanted sideways. Sasuke finally fell asleep, the exhaustion taking it's toll on leaf ninja.

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><p>Thanks for reading this story so far. Please leave a review so that I can continue to improve on all my stories as time goes on.<p> 


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